Before she was elected as chairwoman of the Labor Party, it seemed that Knesset member Merav Michaeli lived in a dreamland. For many months her party, which was the beating heart of the Israeli left for decades and once ruled the country, had faded such that its disappearance from the map in next month's elections seemed practically an established fact.
Attempts to recruit politicaly-attractive candidates to save the party focused on male candidates such as former Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, but they did not succeed. It seemed hardly anyone believed in the party anymore, and certainly few thought that Michaeli — a woman most identified with feminist battles — would be the one to resuscitate the political corpse.